Christian Bale Goes Ballistic On Terminator Salvation Set - A Good Sign!

I am sure most of you have seen or heard at this point that Christian Bale went ballistic on the set of "Terminator Salvation," chewing out the director of photography for walking on the set during a taping. I am generally a person who doesn't mix the on-screen and off-screen personas of actors. I appreciate these people for their acting skills, not for their people skills. As such, I generally let outbursts of this sort pass without a thought.

But, Christian Bale is different! Christian Bale is a phenomenal actor and is certainly someone who really throws himself into roles. In American Psycho, he got himself into outstanding shape to play the lead role:

Then, in The Machinist, he practically starved himself to death to externalize the internal battle that the main character was waging:

Christian Bale is a seriously passionate actor; so, that's why I think this outburst on the set of Terminator Salvation is a really good sign! Sure, it sucks that the DP got yelled at so severely - people shouldn't be treated that way. But, considering how much Bale gets into his roles, I am now more optimistic than ever that Terminator 4 is going to be quite good. If this is the kind of energy and emotion he brings to the set, I can only imagine that it offers good insight into the passion he will bring to the screen!

Reader Comments

Come on man! So all this yelling and fu**ing was positive to you? He could've gave the guy a remark and moved on.He kept threatening for 15 mins. He practically ended his carrier in movie making. If you don't know what actually happened you would probably imagine that the guy ruined a film roll or something and now Bale has to redo a 3 days acting all over again.

While I'm not condoning his behavior at all, I sincerely doubt that this will "ruin his career". He's the star of 2 of the highest grossing movies of the last 5 years (Batman Begins and The Dark Knight). He's not going anywhere over a little verbal abuse.

I am not saying the yelling itself is positive; I stated that no one should be treated the way he treated the DP. But, when an actor like Bale throws himself so deeply into roles, I have to hope / imagine that this outburst is outward embodiment of the passion he is bringing to the movie?

FWIW, my understanding is that the DP had a reputation for walking on st to adjust lights, etc. during rehearsals, which is a no-no. Rehearsals, light adjustments, framing etc., are generally done separately but this DP allegedly didn't respect that etiquette.

What I am curious about is where was the director on all of this? He's the one in charge and why did he allow his DP to go about messing things up?

Anyone here realize that the DP is an absolute ASSHOLE, treated the crew (ESPECIALLY the PAs) like shit, and totally had it coming? I don't feel bad for Shane at all, that jackass deserved it and more.

I have to say, Bale should not be cited or put down for losing control on Terminator set. I worked on Terminator Salvation, and I had a breakdown myself. The conditions were awful and the crew consisted of nonsympathetic, ignorant, power-playing jerks. The truth should be out there about how negative the environment was on that set. Is everybody so blindsided by the intimidation of Hollywood that no one wants to speak up about how Bale was justified in his outburst?? The emotional and physical toll it took on the working actors of the movie was extreme and traumatic to say the least, for me anyway. I feel bad that Bale got such bad press, because I sympathize with him. The focus should've been off of him and on the attitude of those working behind the scenes.